water butt

I need to invest in a water butt or two as the house we are in has a water meter and I don't fancy huge through the roof water bills over the summer!
Only trouble is that the only downpipe I have to attach it to runs from the guttering on the roof but on the way down the waste from the bath,shower,bathroom sink and kitchen sink connect to it.I know you can use grey water on the garden but I'm worried that this water might end up too contaminated by bubble bath,shampoo etc and also the cleaning products I use to clean the bathroom/kitchen.Does anyone else have a water butt like this and use it regularly on their garden? I don't want to end up killing all my much loved plants!

 

i`m going to have a water meter fitted because our bills are so high , i`ve been told you don`t need to connect a water butt to a down pipe , just leave the top open a little you can always put some wire mesh over the opening . Thats what i shall do as i don`t have a downpipe to connect it to

 

I plan on doing that too in another area of the garden. If I could attach it to the downpipe as previously mentioned though i'd have a constant supply of water all through summer even when there is no rain from our daily baths/showers etc so it would be great if I could use it on the garden.

 

Hi, Mel!
You haven't told us if your rainwater system is plastic or cast iron - I'm guessing it's plastic as most are these days. If it is, and you're reasonably handy or have a friend or relative who can help, it's not too much trouble to divert the rainwater that falls on the roof. You can often fit a simple diverter directly into the downpipe above the point where the grey water joins it.

If you google "rainwater diverter" you can visit lots of sites. One is offering a kit for �£14, for instance. The only problem with diverters is that they are usually fitted at the same level as the water butt and stop diverting when it's full. If you fit one higher up, you may have to fit an overflow pipe to the water butt. Again, not too difficult - builders' merchants sell overflow pipe and fittings for domestic cold water tanks like the one you almost certainly have in your loft!

Hope this helps!